La Liga Round Up: Matchday 4

With the international break over, domestic football returned in Spain this weekend with some big score-lines, as well as a few new names. Barcelona and Athletico Madrid were looking to maintain their 100% starts in the league, while Real Madrid and Villarreal knew that at least one of them would lose their perfect start as they clashed.

Athletico Madrid kicked off the weekends action with a 4-2 victory at home against Almeria. David Villa opened the scoring after just 15 minutes, with Costa extending the lead from the penalty spot before half-time. However, 3 minutes after Athletico’s second goal Almeria pulled one back- Rodri grabbing the goal. In the second half, two goals in three minutes sealed the victory for the home side as Tiago and Garcia added their names to the scoresheet. Vidal got Almeria’s second on the 90th minute but by that time it was just a consolation.

Barcelona also continued their 100% start with a 3-2 victory over Sevilla. Dani Alves opened the scoring after 36 minutes and Lionel Messi put the Catalans 2-0 up in the second half. Rakitic and Coke scored to bring the sides level by Alexis Sanchez’ late goal saved Barca.

In a top of the table clash, Villarreal and Real Madrid played out a 2-2 draw. Cani opened the scoring for the Yellow Submarines after 21 minutes before Gareth Bale equalised on his debut following his world record transfer from Spurs. Ronaldo put Madrid ahead in the second half but Dos Santos made sure the points were shared when he scored with 20 minutes remaining.

In the other match on Saturday, Levante and Real Sociedad drew 0-0 leaving both sides on five points.

On Sunday, Lanzarote’s 76th minute goal gave Espanyol a narrow victory away against Granada and Getafe won 2-1 against Osasuna thanks to Miku’s brace. Torres was on the scoresheet for Osasuna, who took the lead after 11 minutes but couldn’t hold on.

Malaga smashed Rayo Vallecano 5-0 as El Hamdaoui scored a hat-trick. Portillo and Eliseu grabbed Malaga’s other goals. Real Betis also secured victory, winning 3-1 at home to Valenica. Molina opened the scoring after just 9 minutes before Sevilla’s brace gave Betis a comfortable three goal lead at the interval. In the second half, Costa scored for Valencia but the damage had already been done.

Monday evening saw Basque side Athletic Bilbao secure a 3-2 victory against Celta Vigo, in the first game in the new San Mames stadium. Celta Vigo threatened to spoil the party when they took the lead on 14 minutes but four minutes later San Jose equalised. Iraola and Benat scored in the second-half to give the hosts a two goal lead but Mina cut the deficit with 11 minutes remaining. However, the visitors couldn’t find an equaliser.

In the other La Liga clash on Monday night, Elche drew 0-0 with Real Valladolid.

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Josh has had work featured in the Evening Gazette and on Newcastle United website. He is a Multimedia Journalism student at Teesside University and runs a successful sports blog. He also enjoys films, comics and TV, writing about anything he can. Josh has recently started writing his first of what he hopes will be many books.